A 36-YEAR-OLD Tipperary man was yesterday found guilty of the manslaughter of a woman who died in an arson attack on her home in Co Tipperary two years ago.
Jason Murphy, Elm Park, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, was found guilty at Clonmel Circuit Court of the manslaughter of Ann-Marie O’Neill (50), and two counts of arson, on April 27th, 2007. He had denied the charges.
Mrs O’Neill died after a fire set by Murphy in her husband’s car outside their home spread to the house at Elm Park, Clonmel, at about 5.30am.
Mrs O’Neill’s husband Pat O’Neill gave evidence of how he jumped from a first-floor bedroom to escape, breaking his ankle, but that his wife was unable to jump and died in the fire.
The trial heard Murphy drank with a number of people at a bonfire in a field adjacent to the O’Neills’ house on the night of the blaze. He later went to a party in a friend’s house, where he swapped jackets with another man and left the party at 4.30am.
He arrived at another friend’s house at 5.30am. The friend described the accused as having a “blackened face”.
Murphy pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Mrs O’Neill and not guilty to two counts of arson of the O’Neills’ car and of their house.
Couple Janette Cody and Jonathan Dennehy told gardaí in the days after the fire they heard Murphy say he had “lit the fire” in a car, but he “didn’t mean to hurt anybody”. They said they “saw him crying” after the fire and heard him saying he was going to go to England.
However, both gave evidence in court that their statements were lies and that they made the allegations because gardaí told them they would go to prison for five years for withholding information, and that their children would be taken away, if they did not say those things about Murphy.
A jury of seven women and five men found Murphy guilty of the manslaughter of Mrs O’Neill by a majority of 11 to one, and guilty of two counts of arson by unanimous verdict. Judge Thomas Teehan remanded Murphy in custody for sentencing to the next sitting of Clonmel Circuit Court in June.
Pat O’Neill yesterday described his wife as a “brilliant woman” and a “rock of sense”.
He said he was “extremely relieved” and said “Ann-Marie can rest easier now justice has been done”.
He said his wife had returned to education and had “just completed her Leaving Cert, but never got a chance to accept her reward”.